If you wonder what the strangest place on our planet is, let me tell you, it’s not the Bermuda Triangle, nor even Snake Island in Brazil. It’s not even a place, but rather a virtual space that bends time and place into a somewhat distorted continuum.
That’s, of course, not how you imagine Google Maps, a web mapping platform most of us couldn’t live without. But this corner of Reddit titled “Google Maps Shenanigans” documents the weird and wonderful happenings captured around the world, proving just how full of randomly weird and crazy things this planet Earth really is.
According to the subreddit’s description, this is the community “for all of the interesting, funny, or otherwise unusual things you see on Google Maps,” so get ready for more questions than answers. And a healthy dose of laughter!
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My Dog Died A Few Years Ago But When I Look At Google Maps She’s Still There Chasing The Street Car
Say Hi To Guinness
Caught My Dog Chilling In The Main Entrance Of My House On Google Maps, It’s Been Over 1 Year Since He Passed Away
The world of navigation has never been the same since Google Maps was released in 2005 and became a quintessential tool for anyone who needs to get from one place to another, offering detailed directions, real-time traffic updates, and alternative routes. Ask any traveler and they will tell you that navigating in a different country without the app on their phone would be barely possible (we've surely gotten too lazy to use good old paper maps!).
Meanwhile, on the internet, Google Maps has offered a whole new kind of entertainment. With people browsing deeper into the platform, they soon realized there are interesting things captured there.
Caught The Google Car Driver Breaking The Law
Someone Just Hacked The Planet
These Streets In Nova Scotia
But experts warn that Google Maps, just like Google Earth and Google Street View, may cause some privacy concerns most people are completely unaware of. Previously, we spoke with cybersecurity expert Daniel Markuson from NordVPN, who shed a light on these privacy concerns.
“Google Street View cameras are able to capture images and moments that people would like to keep private (such as protesters at an abortion clinic, people in bikinis, or other activities that are wanted to be private, even though they are visible from the public property),” he said.
“Quick Guys, Get In Formation”
Thank You 360 View
Chicago Poo Police
Moreover, Google Street cameras take pictures from an elevated position and are able to capture pictures over hedges that are designed to keep territories private.
While faces and car numbers are blurred automatically, and anyone can request to blur parts of the picture, it doesn’t mean people can have full privacy. “There are still many images of potential break-ins, sunbathers, and individuals entering adult bookstores that could be found online as they were republished so many times,” Markuson told us.
Boy Falling Off A Bench Found In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania!
After An Hour Of Looking Along The West Coast, I Found A Whale In The Ocean On The West Coast! (33 Feet Long)
This Segway Bus
Markuson reminds us that “people photographed by Google Street cameras never give their consent for doing that. And this is a big privacy issue as anybody who wants to remain completely private in the digital world should have the right to do that.”
Another important thing to be aware of, Markuson argues, is that “if you enable location tracking on your Google Maps, Google will collect data about your whereabouts under its Location History section. It is being done across devices where you’re signed in with your Google account. If you’ve been keeping your location tracking on, you can see your own location history map here.”
Drug Deal Caught On Google Maps
This Dog’s Blurred Butt
The Algorithm Used To Blur Faces Blurred The Statue Of Liberty
“Needless to say that by using Google Maps for planning routes and searching for places, you’re feeding Google with valuable information about your whereabouts which can later be used for targeting you with ads,” the cybersecurity expert said.
Moreover, Google Earth privacy issues are mostly connected to its Google Street View feature. “Many people don’t want their homes to be shown there as they see this as a breach of their privacy,” Markuson concluded.
Imagine This Moment Of Your Life Immortalized On Google Maps Forever
Bad boys, bad boys, whatcha gonna do? Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Streetview Censored This Cat For His Privacy
If the cat was facing the house and had the tail up - it was required for decency
At Least They Had The Decency To Censor The Legs
Just Another Night In St Petersburg Russia I Guess
Nice Cloud In Slovakia
Apparently The Fastest Bus In Existence On Google Maps--Seattle To Kyrgyzstan And Back To Seattle In Only 47 Minutes
It’s Veiny Too!
Google Maps Approved My Photo For The Vet
A Old Guy Made This For His Wife On Their Farm Without Her Knowing About It As A Celebration Of Their Life Together
And Stay Out!
Kidnapping Found In Sweden!
btw, this isn't real lol. It's a staged 'scene' for Google maps (like the horse with the banana) hence their outfits look so comedic.
In October 2017, I Got Spotted By The Google Maps Street View Car Not Once But Twice In Two Different States
Virgin Atlantic Photo-Bombed The Satellite Image
This Man In A Trash Can, Found In Some Park In Sweden
Found In Zambia
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
4 People In 4 Coloured Hazmat Suits In Norilsk, Russia. The Further On Street View You Travel The Stranger Their Actions Get, From Staring Into Walls To Checking Random Letterboxes
Spiderman On A Roof Found In Japan!
Hrm
Escaped Prisoner Found Near A Jail!
This Dog-Shaped Mountain In Antarctica
16 September 2013 - I Witnessed My Crazy Tin-Foil-Hat Neighbor Scream And Threaten To Sue The Google Street Car Driver If Photos Are Taken Of His House And Demands That Google Blur It Out (They Never Did Blur It)
He;s also somewhat melting into the ground. Must have forgotten his tin foil hat...
Google Street View Blurred Out My Horses Face
In The Aftermath Of A Furry Convention We Get This Google Maps Treasure
Google Car Getting Pulled Over In The Florida Keys
Presented Without Comment
Don't Talk To Me Or My Son Ever Again
Dad: "Martha there's a big scary truck in front of the house." Mum: "Sigh... Timmy, can you go protect your father again?"
A Replica Of The Eiffel Tower In Inner Mongolia China
This Place In Austin Texas
The Costa Concordia Cruise Ship
not funny. this was a deadly shipwreck. 33 people are dead because of this.
Load More Replies...When I first started reading what happened, I thought "okay, language barrier caused the crash into the reef/rocks", but then when I read he DOWNPLAYED the wreck when coast guard called them and then got into a life boat BEFORE everyone was off the ship, I changed my mind quickly! He was even TOLD by coast guard to go back and assist with the evacuation and he told them no. Like.... what?? You're the GD captain! This is your responsibility! He's in jail until 2032, so that's something, I guess
Hang on, ladies and gentleman, we need to make a *really* sharp turn....
Why is it floating on it's side Am no ship engineer but that doesn't look right
Doesn't Ed know not to sign his name. That is going to get him a write-up for sure.
It's not Ed - look at the picture upside down and you will see that what appeared to be a man's name is actually P3... And further along the ship's side you can also see P4 to P12. What I haven't been able to ascertain is what the letter "P" stands for in this case. Does anyone know?
Load More Replies...That is the Costa Concordia a cruise ship that wrecked due to the captain’s own stupidity. Tragically many lives were lost.
Load More Replies...A Flipped Over Police Van In London
What Happened To Spiderman?
Helpful
Trying To See A House For Sale In Street View
Open Beer Tossing Google Car Driver
I came here just to add this. i was checking out my old walking routes. This person was just laying on his driveway. Going down the street looking back they stayed there, face down, hands on the side and not moving. I think they were planking. The capture was from 2019, not really a planking crazed time. Doesn't seem like they were injured in any way nor sun bathing. Idk, maybe they were sunbathing. With clothing. On their driveway. No blanket or towel. LOL 331978023_...0da6fe.jpg
Recently I got up in the morning. Was wearing an old tshirt and pj bottoms, hair a crazy mess, no makeup and went to get my area ready where I work from home. This included pulling up the bay window blinds open at the front of my house. In a secluded rural neighborhood that hardly gets any traffic. There I was for the whole world to see when not Google but the Apple Maps car drives by. Gad what a lovely view.
LOL They usually blur out the windows when people are in view inside their homes. I did catch me and my daughter sitting at the bus stop. Saw the Google mobile drive by. Our faces were blurred out and I hardly recognize myself.
Load More Replies...My favourite is still this: https://www.google.com/maps/place/South+Yorkshire+Police+Operations+Complex/@53.3970079,-1.4034013,17z/data=!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x487977c3772a9353:0xa4b1e940b7ae6f81!2sLetsby+Ave,+Tinsley,+Sheffield!3b1!8m2!3d53.3970047!4d-1.4012126!16s%2Fg%2F1hc36fngd!3m5!1s0x487977c27fa4d3c7:0x4a42f26951f7a8f3!8m2!3d53.3961031!4d-1.3995784!16s%2Fg%2F1vg6t7xr
What year? Just looked it up and didn't spot anything out of the ordinary.
Load More Replies...When the Covid lockdown first happened in 2020, my son (10) and I (42) were looking at vacation spots on Google. Then I remembered a friend of the family that got caught flipping off the Google car at work so I go to the location and notice the picture was gone. Then I realized that my husband is clearly pictured in the background working on a customer's vehicle. What's odd is that, for 1, he hadn't worked there in over 2 1/2 years and for 2, he passed away in 2019. I saved the screenshot and it's in an album with all his other photos. I bet he'd be pissed to know he'll be working that job forever lol
His showing up in that photo is weird and yet pretty funny... laughed at working there forever. Now I'm afraid to check my old work place lol
Load More Replies...When GE/GSV first appeared it was amazing to see places you might never go to, or plan a journey to a new city, or find hidden weirdness, but now there is a website that tells you where it'll be and when, these are just people standing around being "wacky"./oldmanshoutsatclouds
Plain to see what was on this town planner's mind. Gold Coast, Australia Town-Plann...ed376d.jpg
I was checking out the sphinx in Egypt, when I noticed that they had blurred someone’s torso from the back. No idea why.
Our home is in two different stages. The old home that we tore down and the new home we were innprocess of building. Apparently when Google came through they turned at the intersection. So if you “drive” down the road in Google view tou get two different images of our home. I cant seem to figure out how to share the link…
I came here just to add this. i was checking out my old walking routes. This person was just laying on his driveway. Going down the street looking back they stayed there, face down, hands on the side and not moving. I think they were planking. The capture was from 2019, not really a planking crazed time. Doesn't seem like they were injured in any way nor sun bathing. Idk, maybe they were sunbathing. With clothing. On their driveway. No blanket or towel. LOL 331978023_...0da6fe.jpg
Recently I got up in the morning. Was wearing an old tshirt and pj bottoms, hair a crazy mess, no makeup and went to get my area ready where I work from home. This included pulling up the bay window blinds open at the front of my house. In a secluded rural neighborhood that hardly gets any traffic. There I was for the whole world to see when not Google but the Apple Maps car drives by. Gad what a lovely view.
LOL They usually blur out the windows when people are in view inside their homes. I did catch me and my daughter sitting at the bus stop. Saw the Google mobile drive by. Our faces were blurred out and I hardly recognize myself.
Load More Replies...My favourite is still this: https://www.google.com/maps/place/South+Yorkshire+Police+Operations+Complex/@53.3970079,-1.4034013,17z/data=!4m15!1m8!3m7!1s0x487977c3772a9353:0xa4b1e940b7ae6f81!2sLetsby+Ave,+Tinsley,+Sheffield!3b1!8m2!3d53.3970047!4d-1.4012126!16s%2Fg%2F1hc36fngd!3m5!1s0x487977c27fa4d3c7:0x4a42f26951f7a8f3!8m2!3d53.3961031!4d-1.3995784!16s%2Fg%2F1vg6t7xr
What year? Just looked it up and didn't spot anything out of the ordinary.
Load More Replies...When the Covid lockdown first happened in 2020, my son (10) and I (42) were looking at vacation spots on Google. Then I remembered a friend of the family that got caught flipping off the Google car at work so I go to the location and notice the picture was gone. Then I realized that my husband is clearly pictured in the background working on a customer's vehicle. What's odd is that, for 1, he hadn't worked there in over 2 1/2 years and for 2, he passed away in 2019. I saved the screenshot and it's in an album with all his other photos. I bet he'd be pissed to know he'll be working that job forever lol
His showing up in that photo is weird and yet pretty funny... laughed at working there forever. Now I'm afraid to check my old work place lol
Load More Replies...When GE/GSV first appeared it was amazing to see places you might never go to, or plan a journey to a new city, or find hidden weirdness, but now there is a website that tells you where it'll be and when, these are just people standing around being "wacky"./oldmanshoutsatclouds
Plain to see what was on this town planner's mind. Gold Coast, Australia Town-Plann...ed376d.jpg
I was checking out the sphinx in Egypt, when I noticed that they had blurred someone’s torso from the back. No idea why.
Our home is in two different stages. The old home that we tore down and the new home we were innprocess of building. Apparently when Google came through they turned at the intersection. So if you “drive” down the road in Google view tou get two different images of our home. I cant seem to figure out how to share the link…